What She Does

She takes the weight off
his mind as
bare trees take January
light, as
mind remembers the
secret consonants of
French words, as the
student comes to the
hard place in Virgil
with an intake of
breathe, as the sleeper
breaks up in the
dream descending the
stair, as gravity,
appetite, rain draw us
down, homemade,
ad lib, as the
willow takes the
wind, leaves flashing
silver as it turns

~Michael O'Brien